St Pol de Léon's Church, Paul

St Pol de Léon’s Church stands in the village of Paul, a few kilometres from Penzance. The building dates from the 15th century but was rebuilt after a Spanish raid in 1595. Its granite tower rises 27 metres and carries a six-metre turret that guides ships into Mount’s Bay. Inside the tower hang six bells, two cast in 1727 and four in 1950. The chancel holds a memorial window designed by Robert Anning Bell, recognised as one of Cornwall’s finest stained-glass works. The east window honours Lieutenant William Torquil Macleod Bolitho, who died in the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915. A sonnet by Maurice Baring and an anthem by Kevin Lane were created to mark the window’s restoration and the centenary of the First World War. The stone surround uses Polyphant stone, recently repaired with matching material from the Forest of Dean. Nearby lie three Cornish-language writers of the Boson family. The churchyard contains a monument to Dolly Pentreath, claimed as the last native speaker of Cornish, erected in 1882 by Louis Lucien Bonaparte. A simple stone marks Captain Stephen Hutchens, who died in 1709. The quiet lanes around Paul lead down to Mount’s Bay, where the tower’s daymark still guides fishing boats each evening.